Directional drilling sub for oil wells



sept. 14,1943.

F. A. DlEHL'. ET Al.

DIRECTIONAL DRILLNG SUB FOR OIL WELLS Filed March 10 1942 llIIlIlIlIIIIIIIIIIIl/llillllll llilllllllillri R. WMM @i mm A@ o 0L MMPatented Sept. 14, 1943 I v y Y2,329,597

a. Diehl' and Maillon B'. ceclrburn,

v Lusk, Wyo. f

Application Marchio, 1942, serial'Ne; 434,155 f s claims. (crest- LeiThis invention relates `Vto affdirectional drillA guiding'device foroilwells andv 'has for-"its principal object; the provision of a simpleand highly eicient device which can beplaced in the tool string eithertoautomatically maintain 'the hole vertical or lto deflect the courseofthe' hole in any desired direction. v

`Another 'object ofthe` invention is 'to provide a. tool of thischaracter which-will 'notvrequire orientation at the surface sof that itwill not be necessary' te mark er' maintain1 the tool' stem in anydesired relation# duringits insertion inthe well, yet whichwillaccurately position itself in the proper direction upon reachingth'ejbottom.

Other objects and advantages residd'in :the detail construction of' the`invention,whichA is designed-for simplicity, economy, and elliciency.'Friese will become more apparent from the following description. A Inthe'following detailed description of-the inventionreferen'ce is had tothefaccompanying drawing which :forms a part hereof.. Likenu#meralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughoutthedescription.. l 1 In the drawingz.. '.1 f v i Figui vis a vertical'section `througlr'a typical drill' hole` illustrating the finventioninuse therein; i

sr; A 'sealing tube' iris threaded andere opper extremity of the stem I0then 'extends upwardlythroughfthe gasket 2I into slidable engagementwitha mud passage Z3 inthe cap memberA. The lower face of @the gasket 2lispreierably con- Vexl and the upperfaceuoff the stem ID ispreferably-concave' so 'that the two, when forced Vte* gethen'will form'a. perfect sealing seat.

l; `A freely'rotatable barrel Zls-urro-unds the stem wfinte'rmediate'the socket 'breek n and the driving? member' I 3. l The` barrelvis'`journ'allenon annular; antifriction bearings surrounding theperipheries of bearing-discs- 2'5. 'I'hebearlng discs are fitted overthe stem I l' at -each extremity of theb'arrel v24Ay and are `held inlongitud-ina] position theronby means or a sitableset collar 21. Oneside' of -rthe barrel carries acounterf "weight- 28, which may be formedbypouri'ng lead or 'otherhea'vy molten'material therelm Therefore, ifthe stem I0 is inclined in anydrectio'n, the barrel willautomaticallyrotate to allow the counter-weight A2MoY comete `restonf-the lower side' thereof.r l

^ Fig."2 is an enlarged .side view of the improved drilling sub in the'open` or contracted position; I Fig, '3 4is .zt-longitudinalsectionftherethrough in the closed. or expandedposition; and f Figs. 4and 5 are cross' sectional! views, taken on the-lines i4-6,' andii',Fig. 3, respectively.

rThe yix'nprovedIdrill"giiidirig device employs a hexagonal stem memberIll, having an'axial passage 4Q. The lower extremity of the stem memberterminates in a pin socket block II in which a standard threaded bitsocketIZ is formed. The upper extremity of the stem slides through anaxially-positioned, hexagonal passage in a driving member I3 andterminates in a nut chamber I1 formed in a cap member I8. An upper lockY nut HIy and a lower lock-nut I5 are threaded on a nipple I6 formed 0nthe upper extremity of the stem IG and clamped against a shoulder formedthereon. The bottom of the nut chamber I'i is closed by a threaded upperextremity on the driving member I3. The top of the. cap member I8terminates in a standard, lthreaded taper pin I9 by means of which theentire device is attached to thetool string. v

A gasket cavity 20 is formed in the top of the The barrel carries' Yanexpanding dog 29 which 'is held infplace onk one side" of the barrel bylm"e'ans'oila spring steel-'hoop 30.: The hoop passes through areceivingopening/in 'the dog 29 and is secured to thev barrelat'any' desiredposition by means of! afsultalole attachment 'screw 32. The hoop isnormally kovel in cross'section, asshown in Fig'. 3, sothatitaslvinherent elasticity will con* stantly tend to urge the dog 29 towardythe barrel.

The'do'g' is zurgedfaway from the barrellwhen desired by means of anelongated wedge member 33 whiclrslicles into a vertical. receiving'groove in the inner surface `of the dog and which is provided with aninclined wedge surface 34. The Wedge memberis slidably secured to theside of lthe barrel by means of offset straps 35 which allow verticalmovement of. the wedge member but prevent circumferential movementthereof on the barrel. The Wedge member extends upwardly above thebarrel terminating ixa hooked flange SiS-which engages in an annulargroove 3'! in the bearing member I3. Suitable guide members 38 guide thevertical movements of the dog 29 and prevent sideward movements thereof.The dog 29 carries an inclined, elongated toothbr fang 3I.

- If the device is intended to maintain a drill v hole in a verticalposition or dellect it to a vertical position, the dog 29 is placed onthe barrel diametrically opposite the center of gravity of nutchamberI'I to receive a sealing gasket-2| f which projects downwardly into thenut chamber the counter-weight 28. The improved directional drillingtoo-l is threaded into the tool stem, by

means of its pin I9; the drilling bit isvthreaded into the pin socketblock Il; and the device is lowered into the well. Should the wellincline from kthe vertical, the weight 28 will swing to the lower sidepositioning the dog 2Q at the high side thereof, as shown in Fig. l.

When the bit bottoms in the well, the cap member I8 and the drivingmember I3 will continue downward along the hexagonal stem. This causesthe wedge member 33 to be forced downwardly behind the dogy 29 to wedgethe latter outwardly and upwardly against the wall thereon for arestricted distance; a wall engag on the high side of the well hole.When the limit of movement has been reached, the gasket 2| is pressedagainst the upper extremity of the A stem l!) to seal the mud passageand rotationcf :t

the bit will commence. The barrel 24 will re' `v main stationary,however, with its dc-g pressing` j against the high side of the holethus reacting against the barrel to force the bit toward theA low sidethereof so as to gradually bring the hole to vertical alignment. 1 v-Should the improved tool be required to deiiect a hole` from thevertical, the position of the dog 29 is changed on the barrel to apredetermined relation with the counter-weight $28., kFor instance, itmay be placed on theNcounter-fweight side of the barrel so that the dogwill force itself against the lcwside kof the holev so as'to force thedrill bit to deflect in an arctoward the `side oppositethe'counter-weight. A deflection may be obtained in any otherdirection'vby proper positioning of the dog. -V a a, y

It will'be noted that theilow of vmud is not interfered with since thereis a clearipassage through the mud passage 23,. through the'sealing tube22 and the hollow core passage 40 to the bit. Sealing plates 39arepositionedabove and below the bearings 25 to protect them from mud andsand. i

There is a tendency -forthebarrel to rotate in the same direction thatthe stem ID rotates due to bearing friction, etc. This tendency may beoffsetl by placing the tooth 3|V onan angle,v as

illustrated, so that when` contactingfthe wall of v the vd rill holeythe toothswill tend to rotate `the barrel ina directionoppositeto itsnatural rotating tendency kso as tof-counteract thelatter.-

While. a specific form ofthe improvement has been( described'andillustratedhereimit is dee siredtof be understood ythatthe same may bevaried, within the scope of the appended claims, without` departing fromthe spirit of4 the' invention.v 1

Having thus described the invention, what is i. upper end' of said ingmember on said barrel; and a. wedge member .extending downwardlyY fromsaid cap member between said wall engaging member and said barrel toforce the latter outwardly as the former moves downwardly on said stem.

2. A directional bit guiding device for oil well ,.ldrillingrcomprising:a stem for conveying rotative effort to a drilling bit; a freelyrotatable barrel on saidstem; a counterweight at one side of said barrelfor maintaining the other sidethereof upward -rwhen said vstem isinclined from the verticalg'means on the lower end of said stem forattaching a drilling bit; a cap member on the stem free to movevertically thereof for a restricted distance; a wall engaging member onsaid barrel; a wedge member extending downwardly `from saidv cap memberbetween said wall engaging'member and said barrel to force the latteroutwardly as the former moves downwardly on saidrstem; ymeans forallowing said-cap and stem to rotate independently of said wedge member;and means for preventing relative rotation between said wall engagingmember and said'barrel. n f

y3.,-A `directionalbit guiding device for oil well drilling comprising:a stem for conveying rotative eilort toa drilling bit; a freelyrotatable barrel on said stem; a counterweight at one side of saidbarrel for 'maintaining the other side thereof upward whentsaid stem isinclined from the vertical;- means onl the lower endof said stem forattaching a drilling bit; acap member on the upper end of said stem freeto -move vertically thereon for a restricted distance; a wall engagingmember on said'barrel; a wedge;*means for forcing said wedgebetweensaidwall engaging member and said barrel in consequence of downward movementof said cap member on said barrel; meansv f or preventing relative axialmovement betweenl said. barrel andrsaid stem; and means for preventingrelative rotative movement between said cap member and said stem.

f f FREDERICK -A. DIEHL;

MAHLON B. COCKBURN.

